COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, May 14, 2018

FBI and DOJ: "Lying Through Their Teeth"




HAT TIP: Bob

Trust but Verify


Suzanne Massie, a writer in Russia, met with President Ronald Reagan many times between 1984 and 1987.[1] She taught him the Russian proverb "Доверяй, но проверяй" {Doveryai, no proveryai} (trust, but verify), advising him that "The Russians like to talk in proverbs. It would be nice of you to know a few. You are an actor – you can learn them very quickly."[2] The proverb was adopted as a signature phrase by Reagan, who subsequently used it frequently when discussing U.S. relations with the Soviet Union. Using proverbs that the Russians could relate to may have helped relations between the two leaders.[3]
After Reagan used the phrase to emphasize "the extensive verification procedures that would enable both sides to monitor compliance with the treaty",[4] at the signing of the INF Treaty, on 8 December 1987,[notes 1] his counterpart General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev responded, "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered, "I like it."[5][6] While Reagan quoted Russian proverbs, Mr. Gorbachev quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, who had been popular in the USSR when Gorbachev was in college, saying that "The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."[4][3]
Following the 2013 Ghouta attacksSecretary of State John Kerry told a news conference in Geneva on September 14, 2013 that the United States and Russia had agreed on a framework to dispose of Syria's chemical weapons. He said "President Reagan's old adage about 'trust but verify' ... is in need of an update. And we have committed here to a standard that says 'verify and verify'."[7][8]

Wikipedia

------------------------------------

How Obama loyalists conspired to undermine the Trump transition

 - The Washington Times - Sunday, May 13, 2018
Republican-driven investigative reports on Russia have provided an unanticipated view into secret anti-Trump maneuvers by Obama loyalists during the span of the presidential transition.
Congress set out in early 2017 to investigate Moscow election interference and any coordination with the Donald Trump campaign.
As the collusion avenues led to dead ends, Republican investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committee traveled on a new lane. They discovered a number of behind-the-scenes moves that they said transformed a traditionally acrimony-free transition into a partisan transfer of presidential power.
Among the findings: Obama appointees relied on Democratic opposition research to push Trump collusion claims into the public domain. They also leaked sensitive material to news media, some of it grossly misleading.
In addition, House intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes, California Republican, is seeking access to Justice Department documents to determine whether the FBI inserted a spy into the Trump campaign.
Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to President George W. Bush, said Obama aides “made life extremely difficult for the incoming team.”
“In retrospect, we now know this is one of the worst transitions in American history,” Mr. Fleischer told The Washington Times. “On the surface, they played nicely and said nice things. But below the surface, it is clear several people in the Obama administration were doing everything they could to leave time bombs behind that would detonate all around Donald Trump and his administration.”
He pointed to an Obama operative who “unmasked” the name of retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in a U.S.-intercepted call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The Obama person then leaked the call to The Washington Post, causing immediate upheaval inside the new White House.
Mr. Fleischer also talked of a stream of Obama press leaks about supposed Trump-Russia collusion, a charge that remains unproven, at least publicly.
“The Obama administration did many things in their power to harm the Trump administration as they got their feet on the ground,” Mr. Fleischer said. “All these things revolve around a tight circle that have access to the highest levels of intelligence, and they all have a common theme: Trump colluded, when there’s no evidence of it. But they were so spooked by what they saw, I think, it’s highly likely the Obama people rushed to conclusions and made life extremely difficult for the incoming team.”
At the White House, partisanship generally recedes during a transition.
Not at the Obama White House. Press secretary Josh Earnest continued airing the Hillary Clinton campaign themes by bashing Mr. Trump during daily briefings.
“It was the president-elect who, over the course of the campaign, indicated that he thought that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin was a strong leader,” Mr. Earnest told reporters on Dec. 12, 2016. “It was the president-elect who indicated the potential that he would withdraw from some of our critically important NATO commitments. It was the president-elect who refused to disclose his financial connections to Russia. It was the president-elect who hired a campaign chairman with extensive, lucrative, personal financial ties to Russia. It was the president-elect who had a national security adviser on the campaign that had been a paid contributor to RT, the Russian propaganda outlet.”
Nick Shapiro, who was an adviser to CIA Director John O. Brennan, said that, contrary to conservative charges, the White House and the CIA kept a close hold on information about Trump-Russia suspicions and Moscow computer hacking.
“Senior Obama administration and career intelligence and law enforcement officials were all very worried about the Russian interference in the election, as they should have been, but they have in fact been heavily criticized for not being vocal enough with the public about it,” Mr. Shapiro told The Washington Times. “Many former senior Obama officials have been out defending why they didn’t do more publicly, and that was because of what Trump himself said during the campaign, that he wouldn’t accept the results of the election if he lost. They took extraordinary steps to avoid letting the very legitimate concerns about the Russian interference be characterized as partisan.”
Republicans cite the following examples of Obama supporters undermining Mr. Trump:
Opposition research dossier
The Obama Justice Department and the FBI hierarchy embraced the list of collusion charges leveled by former British spy Christopher Steele. He was paid by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign to investigate Mr. Trump and his campaign.
The FBI deployed the Steele dossier to obtain at least one wiretap on a Trump volunteer and made its charges a blueprint for questioning and targeting Trump associates. James B. Comey, who was FBI director when the bureau bought into the dossier, said he tried to “replicate” its charges.
Now on a book tour, he has offered no criticism of Mr. Steele’s work.
The FBI and Steele
The FBI hierarchy made a commitment to hire Mr. Steele and then a paid Democratic Party operative to continue investigating the president-elect and possibly the presidency. Mr. Steele told a Justice Department contact that he was “desperate” to sink the Trump campaign. The bureau fired him after he lied about talking to news media.
The contact, senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, continued to receive anti-Trump data from his wife’s employer, Fusion GPS, the investigative firm that hired Mr. Steele.
Mr. Steele continues to investigate Mr. Trump via the Penn Quarter Group, run by Daniel Jones, a former senior staffer to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat. Mr. Jones acquired $40 million from a small group of donors and has told the FBI that he is paying Fusion GPS and Mr. Steele.
Peter Strzok and Lisa Page
Perhaps no other narrative is emblematic of a “deep state” than the text messages of FBI lovers — Special Agent Peter Strzok and counselor Lisa Page.
Mr. Strzok led the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign. Ms. Page served as a senior counsel to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired in March for lying under oath about a leaked news story.
In 50,000 text messages during and after the election, Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page railed against candidate Trump andspoke of a mysterious “insurance policy” should Mr. Trump become president.
Special counsel Robert Mueller immediately fired Mr. Strzok when apprised by the Justice Department inspector general. Ms. Page has resigned.
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected. But I’m afraid we can’t take that risk,” Mr. Strzok texted in August as his counterintelligence investigation got under way. “It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
The agent’s explanation for how he planned not to “risk” a Trump presidency has not been revealed publicly.
James Clapper
President Obama’s top intelligence officer leaked dossier material to CNN at about the same time Mr. Comey privately briefed the president-elect on Jan. 6, 2017, about the dossier’s prostitution charge. Mr. Comey withheld from Mr. Trump the fact that the charge came from Democratic opposition research. In his memos for the record, Mr. Comey wrote that it was Mr. Clapper who urged him to brief Mr. Trump on the salacious material.
CNN ran a story on Jan. 10, 2017, saying the Russians had compromising material on the president-elect. Mr. Clapper first denied but later admitted that he had leaked to CNN, according to the Republican majority report of the Houseintelligence committee.
Mr. Clapper is a fierce Trump foe, having cast him as an agent of Mr. Putin. CNN hired Mr. Clapper as an analyst in August 2017.
State Department
An Obama political appointee at the State Department brought Mr. Steele together with Sidney Blumenthal, a Clinton operative who briefed him on supposed Trump dirt. Mr. Steele delivered the material to the FBI.
Leaks
Washington media wrote a number of articles on Trump-Russia collusion and quoted unidentified Obama officials. The New York Times greeted Mr. Trump on Inauguration Day with a story claiming conspiracy. The next month, it again relied on Obama people to report that there was a huge number of intercepts and phone records between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence.
Mr. Comey later told Congress that the story was wrong.
Evelyn Farkas, the Pentagon’s top Russia analyst during the Obama era, said on MSNBC last year that she urged her former colleagues to secure as much intelligence material as they could to protect it from destruction by Trump aides. She left the Pentagon in 2015 and advised the Clinton campaign.
“That’s why you have the leaking, because people were worried,” said Ms. Farkas, who is now a scholar at the Atlantic Council.
Conservatives often point to Flynn’s fate as a prime example of the Obama “deep state” bushwhacking a Trumpperson.
The retired three-star Army intelligence officer held phone discussions with Mr. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, on an upcoming U.N. vote on Israel and Moscow’s response to Obama-imposed punitive sanctions for election meddling.
On Jan. 12, 2017, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported on the phone calls, quoting an unidentified Obama official. Other stories followed. The Obama administration was leaking top-secret intercepts.
When interviewed by two FBI agents in his first week as national security adviser, Flynn said those topics were not discussed. The agents told their superiors that they didn’t believe Flynn was deceptive.
Sally Q. Yates, a holdover deputy attorney general from the Obama administration, visited the White House and told officials that Flynn was at risk for Russian blackmail. She believed he violated the 1799 Logan Act, an obscure law preventing private citizens from working with foreigners against government policy.
Mr. Trump fired Ms. Yates when she failed to follow his Muslim immigration ban.
Suddenly, a law that few had heard of became weaponized in the liberal media against Flynn. Conservatives said it was an example of Obama people spinning the media in unison against the new administration.
The Republican report from the House intelligence committee disclosed that Flynn in December 2016 was the subject of the counterintelligence investigation. Mr. Comey had decided to close the investigation in December 2016 but he kept it open because of the Kislyak phone calls.
The House committee interviewed Mr. Comey, Ms. Yates and two other FBI officials. They gave “conflicting testimony” on why agents were dispatched to interview Flynn, the report said.
Flynn resigned that February because of discrepancies in his answers versus the call transcripts. He opted to plead guilty in December to giving false statements to the FBI.
The plea deal with Mr. Mueller did not mention any conspiracies. There has been much press speculation about why Flynn chose to admit guilt, some of it centering on his huge legal costs.
Since then, Flynn has made public statements in support of at least two Republican House candidates and praised Mr. Trump in one of them.
Sen. Harry Reid
As the campaign raged in August 2016, Mr. Brennan, the CIA director, briefed eight senior members of Congress on two issues: ongoing Russia election interference and his bombshell assertion that Trump people may be part of the conspiracy.
Harry Reid, Senate minority leader at the time, promptly wrote an Aug. 27 letter to Mr. Comey, the FBI director, laying out the collusion theory without quoting Mr. Brennan. The letter was leaked to The New York Times and migrated into other media, marking what appears to be the first official Democratic charge of a Trump-Moscow conspiracy.
“The evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to mount,” wrote Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat.
Mr. Shapiro, the former CIA director’s adviser, told The Times that Mr. Brennan had urged Mr. Reid not to write the letter because the information was sensitive.
J.D. Gordon, a Trump campaign national security adviser, said he wants Congress to investigate Obama people’s conduct.
Congress should hold hearings to investigate Obama administration officials who worked behind the scenes to sabotage Trump and associates during the campaign, transition and administration,” Mr. Gordon said. “In some countries, their actions might be considered a coup attempt. And like they enjoy saying about us, ‘Let the investigation follow the facts, wherever they may lead.’”
Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC.  Click here for reprint permission.


63 comments:

  1. The Curse of Kenyatta (Keyhama)

    All roads lead to Kenyatta. Every turn, every revelation, every desperate attempt to divert, deceive and lie point to the most shallow rooted American president and as in Robert Southey's poem The Curse of Kehama, 1810:

    "Curses are like young chicken: they always come home to roost."

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Curse of Kehama, 1810

    Now THAT sounds interesting.

    Never heard of it before.

    I think it is Vishnu:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu

    that, when humankind has lost its way, and all things are falling apart, makes a body and comes to us as one of us, to show us the way to save ourselves from ourselves....always....

    In the Christian outlook this event has occurred only once...

    I will ask my Niece, she will know....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Christians, I remember some Hindu thinker saying, are very dear but very queer, meaning odd, not gay.

      Delete
  3. I love Royal weddings.....I hope everyone realizes that a divorced American dark hued beauty - 37 years of age I think she is - is marrying into the British Royal Family soon.....

    Her name is Meghan_Markle.

    Here she is:

    Describing her ancestry, Markle said: "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white. ... I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman."[14]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meghan_Markle

    Some of the shitty British tabloid press seems scandalized by this development.

    Her husband-to =e is named 'Harry' aka 'arry, a red headed Prince, Prince 'arry Red 'air....

    And, The Queen has announced she is soon to vacate The Throne....

    Such excitement !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Avenatti's Finances:

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/the-michael-avenatti-files-court-documents-show-porn-star-lawyer-reported-8-million-windfall-in-feb-when-he-took-on-stormy/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Michael Avenatti Files: Court Documents Show Porn Star Lawyer Reported $8 Million Windfall in Feb. When he Took on Stormy

      Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft May 13, 2018 140 Comments


      The Michael Avenatti Files — How did a bankrupt attorney come across $8 million after picking up porn star client Stormy Daniels?

      Porn star lawyer Michael Avenatti is a huge hit with the Democrat-media complex.

      The attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels has held 108 interviews on cable news outlets MSNBC and CNN since March 7th.

      Avenatti is a huge hit with the liberal elites who are unabashedly determined to take down President Trump.

      But who is Michael Avenatti?

      Last week Avenatti leaked bank records from Trump attorney Michael Cohen less than a month after the FBI raided Cohen’s office and home.


      Avenatti was on all the cable and news programs touting his great find on Cohen’s wealth.

      Article Continues Below


      But what about Michael Avenatti?


      As attorney Robert Barnes has discovered Michael Avenatti has a very disturbing and possibly criminal past.

      Avenatti is deeply in debt — Not just with his failed coffee company but with his law firm which failed to even file his law firm’s income tax returns for 2014, 2015, and 2016.....

      http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/the-michael-avenatti-files-court-documents-show-porn-star-lawyer-reported-8-million-windfall-in-feb-when-he-took-on-stormy/

      The IRS is deeply, DEEPLY up Avenatti's ass..... so I have read....

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    3. Last week Avenatti leaked bank records from Trump attorney Michael Cohen less than a month after the FBI raided Cohen’s office and home

      My, my, how on earth did he come by these ?????

      Slip some big $Ks to Mueller ????

      Delete
  5. And so it goes -

    The 05/14/2018 Jihad Watch Daily Digest:

    Please use this link to forward to a friend (we really appreciate it), do not use your email client to forward, as they may inadvertently unsubscribe you.

    Merkel, Macron vow Brussels won’t tolerate resistance to inundation of Muslim migrants
    By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 07:43 pm
    Merkel, Macron vow Brussels won’t tolerate resistance to inundation of Muslim migrants
    The Charlemagne prize. What a joke. The real Charlemagne opposed the jihad, as you can discover in my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS (click here to preorder). Merkel and Macron are the heralds of the death of Europe, not its survival. “Macron, Merkel Call for ‘Full Force’ EU Integration, Vow […]
    Read in browser »

    Like Merkel, Macron vow Brussels won’t tolerate resistance to inundation of Muslim migrants

    South Africa: Sunni Muslims stab Shi’ites at mosque, attack has “hallmarks of Islamic State”
    By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 07:26 pm
    South Africa: Sunni Muslims stab Shi’ites at mosque, attack has “hallmarks of Islamic State”
    From the international attention that is given to “Islamophobia,” one might have thought this attack was perpetrated by “Islamophobes.” But in reality, it is the Sunni/Shi’ite jihad transplanted to South Africa. “The assailants killed one man by slitting his throat…” “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” (Qur’an 47:4) “Deadly attack on South African […]
    Read in browser »

    Like South Africa: Sunni Muslims stab Shi’ites at mosque, attack has “hallmarks of Islamic State”

    Israel doubles troops in Gaza, Judea and Samaria ahead of US Embassy opening
    By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 06:53 pm
    Israel doubles troops in Gaza, Judea and Samaria ahead of US Embassy opening
    Strength and resolution rather than weakness and appeasement. Always the preferable route. “Ahead of U.S. Embassy Opening, Israel Doubles Number of Troops in Gaza, West Bank,” by Deborah Danan, Breitbart, May 13, 2018 (thanks to Ken): TEL AVIV – Ahead of the inauguration of the relocated U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli troops have […]
    Read in browser »

    Israel doubles troops in Gaza, Judea and Samaria ahead of US Embassy opening


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. India: Muslim arrested, trained for jihad in Pakistan, planned to assassinate important figures
      By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 04:38 pm
      India: Muslim arrested, trained for jihad in Pakistan, planned to assassinate important figures
      Assassinating key non-Muslim leaders has for centuries been an important element of jihad activity, going all the way back to the Assassins, the mysterious Ismaili Shi’a sect that became renowned and feared for training up hardened cadres of killers by convincing them that they had entered Paradise (they were really high on hashish) and could […]
      Read in browser »
      Like India: Muslim arrested, trained for jihad in Pakistan, planned to assassinate important figures

      Sweden: City that allows Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers twice rejected church bells
      By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 04:25 pm
      Sweden: City that allows Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers twice rejected church bells
      The double standard is easily explained: Christians won’t riot or kill, or threaten to do so, if rejected. “Sweden: Church calls forbidden in town were mosque is allowed to air 110dB Islamic call to prayer,” by Joshua Cullen, Voice of Europe, May 12, 2018: Thursday we’ve reported on that the mosque in Sweden’s Växjö received […]
      Read in browser »

      share on Twitter Like Sweden: City that allows Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers twice rejected church bells

      Iran threatens to expose Western officials who took bribes to make nuke deal happen
      By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 04:19 pm
      Iran threatens to expose Western officials who took bribes to make nuke deal happen
      We can only hope that they do, so that this deep and fetid swamp can be drained. “Angry Iran threatens to expose Western officials who took bribes to make nuke deal happen,” by Vivek Saxena, BizPac Review, May 13, 2018: Shortly after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal last […]
      Read in browser »



      Paris: Muslim “Allahu akbar” knifeman was migrant from Chechnya, was on watch list
      By Robert Spencer on May 13, 2018 09:23 am
      Paris: Muslim “Allahu akbar” knifeman was migrant from Chechnya, was on watch list
      What good is a watch list if no one is watching the people on it? Or are there just too many for French authorities to keep track of them all? The latter is a stated goal of the Islamic State: to overwhelm Western police and intelligence apparatuses, until they collapse. They’re well on their way […]
      Read in browser »


      https://us1.campaign-archive.com/?e=ed5f5d431b&u=12857896c3097382b25b80a09&id=b7aa3a5135

      G'nite

      Delete
  6. Our USA megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffrees, who has, not without some reason, consigned all Moslems to hell, but, unreasonably, all Jews to hell, all Hindus to hell, all Mormons to hell, etc., has prayed for the Peace of Jerusalem at the opening ceremonies of our USA Embassy in Jerusalem.

    We should all agree with those peaceful sentiments.

    Pastor Jeefrees has a net worth estimated at $500,000 so he really can't be criticized, Bless him, for being in the Christianity mega church business, unlike some others, simply to milk the financial possibilities.

    President Trump is now giving his overseas video address.

    JaVanka is our government's representative at this event, making a fine looking USA couple.

    Over in Gaza, the moslem mob has today ramped up the protests and attempted to storm the border fence resulting in some 40 or so dead muzzies, many of them children, who are being used by the adults as human shields.

    The adult muzzies behind this awful display of inhumanity and waste should truly be consigned to hell.

    Jared of JaVanka will soon be speaking as our USA secular representative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a four member jazz band with a woman singing at the ceremonies. Very talented small musical group.

      Delete
    2. Bibi, looking quite satisfied, is sitting next to JaVanka.

      Delete
    3. Jared Javanka is now speaking....

      Delete
    4. The whole assembly is standing and applauding as Jared speaks of USA's leaving the 'deeply flawed Iran Deal'.

      Nikkey Haley, John Bolton, and other USA notables are being recognized, and Bobo is heading to the shower....

      We definitely must build a larger building....it really looks cramped in there and it isn't a really large crowd at all.

      Delete
    5. ....ahhhh.

      I see now the event is actually taking place outside in some type of large tent or covering....

      Bibi is speaking.....recalling the words of the Israeli soldiers " the Temple Mount is in our hands"....

      Delete
    6. Bibi closes with the words 'Jerusalem, the undivided capital of the Jewish People'.

      Latest accurate count of dead muzzies, both adults and children, today is now 41.

      Remarkably, there are about 200 or so Jewish protesters of some sect outside protesting the establishment of the Embassy.

      Delete
    7. Along with many more Moslem protesters peacefully advocating for 'the right of return'.

      Delete
    8. And with that, the ceremony is officially over.

      Delete
    9. Robert Jeffress Is A Bigot And Should Not Be Speaking At The Opening Of The Jerusalem Embassy

      Mitt Romney

      ....Robert Jeffress says “you can’t be saved by being a Jew,“ and “Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.” He’s said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem....

      https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/995841728333713408

      I concur.

      Delete
    10. .

      Good lord, the pot calling the kettle black.


      .

      Delete
  7. Bloody Monday: Israeli snipers kill scores of Palestinians and wound 2,400 and fire teargas at 35,000 protesters rallying against the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem overseen by Trump's Middle East envoy Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka

    I believe that there could be 50 killed, 2,400 wounded, nonsense.

    The situation in the ME has changed radically the last three years. ISIS has come and has now been severely damaged. The vaccum created by US intervention has evolved into a fight for dominance and hegemony. Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey are all looking to maintain and advance their holding and influence. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt are looking for stability and maintaining the status quo.

    Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama have made one hell of a mess. Regime change was a debacle and at this time, the US can at best hope for some kind of regional stability. Israel has developed into a military, economic and regional powerhouse. Saudi Arabia and Egypt recognize Israel as a fait accompli and it is. Israel is a sovereign power and as so can dictate where and when it will establish its capitol. In selecting Jerusalem and with the US recognizing it as so, it will quickly resolve into a non-issue.

    Islamism has become a deadly serious threat to itself in the ME, Europe and less so in the US. The challenge is to isolate it and force evolution. Israel has her borders. Syria and Iraq have theirs. US and European interests should be for stability and not as a safety valve and refuge location. Our joint policy should be that there is no fix for the Muslim world in Israel, Europe or the US. It needs to fix itself where it is.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Catnapping C...

    http://www.fox4news.com/trending/caught-on-camera-teen-attempts-to-cat-nap-feline-from-porch

    ReplyDelete
  9. .

    Babes in Trumpland

    Trump, he keeps the promises that make no sense and ignores the ones that would help the average American.

    Tax breaks for the middle class. Reality: trinkets for the natives. The latest joke, Apple will use the billions it saves in taxes to buy back $100 billion in stock. No investment. No money into the economy.

    Reduce drug prices. Reality: Cut regulations and grant tax breaks (for the drug companies).

    Get tough on Sanctions and Cybersecurity violators: Against the advice of Commerce and the Intelligence agencies Trump promises to intervene in favor of Chinese smart phone producer ZTE.

    In all of these actions, Trump is looking out for his main constituency, and no, that isn’t us, in fact, that isn’t even the bottom 90%.

    And Trump’s base which seems to suffer from many of the same pathologies as Da Man says, ‘Thank you, sir, might I have another’.

    .

    ReplyDelete


  10. .


    No evidence yet of FBI/DOJ corruption.

    .



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Still waiting for that first indictment, ol hoss.

      Haven't even seen one from inspector gadget.

      Get back to me when someone is convicted and sentenced.

      .
      .

      Delete
    2. .

      On the other hand, Trump lies, tells his base he didn't lie, and they believe it or at least 'accept it'.
      You guys remind me of the Stepford Wives.

      .

      Delete
    3. .


      I think I might be able to get back to you after someone other than Team Trump is indicted.

      That will be after the IG Report is finally issued.

      .

      .

      Delete
    4. Keeping you up-to-date, Q-man:


      PAPER: MUELLER'S FBI COURTED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH...

      SECRET MISSION BROKE LAW?

      Russians Try to Call Bluff, Request to View Grand Jury Info....DRUDGE


      You are obviously miserably ill-read on these goings on.

      But, really, is scanning the Drudge Report headlines once or twice a day too much to ask ?

      Delete
    5. .

      I quit reading that Washington Times article above after this line...

      They also leaked sensitive material to news media, some of it grossly misleading.

      When they're talking about someone 'leaking' material detrimental to Trump when you have the escapades of Trump himself, Inspector Clouseau, the rotating White House staff, this whole administration, and the GOP bootlickers in Congress doing twice as much, I could only assume the whole article was satirical and the author was looking for a job at the Onion.

      .

      Delete
    6. Like these on another topic than the Mueller probe, for instance:

      ERDOGAN: USA has lost 'mediator role'...

      Iran urges global resistance...

      Offers $100,000 to Blow Up New U.S. Embassy...

      Hezbollah: 'New phase' in war...

      Al-Qaeda leader calls for new jihad....DRUDGE


      It's fun to keep up on all the various news topics.

      Delete
    7. .

      PAPER: MUELLER'S FBI COURTED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH...

      SECRET MISSION BROKE LAW?

      Russians Try to Call Bluff, Request to View Grand Jury Info....DRUDGE


      Moron.

      I figured that's all you do, read the headlines.

      But Drudge? Good lord.

      PAPER: MUELLER'S FBI COURTED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH...

      Paper? What WND? Was their a proposal? Did he accept? When's the wedding.

      SECRET MISSION BROKE LAW?

      :o)

      Christ, Doug, don't you even know what a question mark indicates?

      Russians Try to Call Bluff, Request to View Grand Jury Info....DRUDGE

      I was the first one to put that story up here over a week ago.

      You are obviously miserably ill-read on these goings on.

      Stop embarrassing yourself.

      .








      Delete
  11. I quit reading

    Q-man

    You loss, Q, though ignorance can bring some temporary bliss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Speaking of ignorance, are you speaking of yourself again ?

      You loss too, old man.

      That should read either -

      Your loss too, old man.

      OR

      You lose too, old man.

      Delete
    2. .

      Damn, an English major and you don't even recognize sarcasm. I'm beginning to think you are also a faux English major.

      .

      Delete
  12. Quirk, I know you will find this challenging, but you should give it the ol' college try nonetheless -

    Hmm: Have Republicans Caught James Comey in a Bald-Faced Lie?

    Guy Benson Guy Benson |Posted: May 14, 2018 2:45 PM

    Hmm: Have Republicans Caught James Comey in a Bald-Faced Lie?

    When Fox News anchor Bret Baier pressed former FBI Director James Comey on a number of fronts in a tough interview late last month, I noted a number of strange responses Comey offered to certain questions. For instance, how was it possible that the ex-Bureau boss didn't specifically know (and claims to still not know) who funded the anti-Trump dossier he used as a key component of the FBI's Russia investigation? And why is he continuing to promulgate the long-debunked Democratic talking point that Christopher Steele's work on said dossier was initiated by Republicans? Another point Baier drilled down on was whether Comey had, in fact, testified to lawmakers that FBI agents who'd interrogated then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had reported back that they did not believe he was lying to them. Other news hosts asked similar questions during Comey's media tour, eliciting similar replies -- via Byron York:

    During publicity interviews for his book, A Higher Loyalty, Comey has been asked several times whether he told lawmakers that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe Flynn had lied. "No," Comey told Fox News' Bret Baier. "I don't know what — maybe someone misunderstood something I said. I didn't believe that and didn't say that." "Not true," Comey told NBC's Chuck Todd. "I don't know where that's coming from," Comey told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "That — unless I'm — I said something that people misunderstood, I don't remember even intending to say that. So, my recollection is I never said that to anybody."

    Here is Comey's denial on Fox (toggle forward to the 1:45 mark):

    VIDEO


    As York points out, not only did the House Intelligence Committee released a report directly contradicting Comey on this point in early May, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has now corroborated the House committee's findings in a new letter:

    In a letter to the Department of Justice and the FBI, committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote, "Director Comey specifically told us during that briefing that the FBI agents who interviewed Lt. General Michael Flynn, 'saw nothing that led them to believe [he was] lying.' Our own committee's staff's notes indicate that Mr. Comey said the 'agents saw no change in his demeanor or tone that would say he was being untruthful.'" The Flynn interview took place on January 24, 2017, four days into the Trump administration. Grassley's letter went farther than the House report to say that Comey "led us to believe…that the Justice Department was unlikely to prosecute [Flynn] for false statements made in that interview." Comey's comments left lawmakers surprised when, in late November 2017, after special counsel Robert Mueller had taken over the Russia investigation, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The House interview was transcribed, and the House committee's report quoted Comey verbatim. The Senate interview was not transcribed, but Grassley referred to "notes taken by a career, non-partisan law enforcement officer who was present."

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Is this, as John Sexton frames it at HotAir, a "pretty obvious lie"? Or might Comey have misremembered a detail in this complicated and lengthy saga? For the sake of argument, let's say this is a case of foggy memory. First, would Comey accept that excuse from someone he was interrogating? Second, if he wasn't absolutely sure on this point, why would he deny that piece of his verbatim testimony -- given to two Congressional committees -- so emphatically, and more than once, on national television? Why set himself up to be so conclusively disproven by the official record? Alternatively, let's say he's proactively lying on this question. If that's the case, why? It's very odd, and I'd love to hear Comey answer follow-ups about this. Speaking of oddness, Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel is asking some eyebrow-raising questions about potential methods employed in the Russia probe -- as well information being withheld from Congress:

      The Department of Justice lost its latest battle with Congress Thursday when it agreed to brief House Intelligence Committee members about a top-secret intelligence source that was part of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign. Even without official confirmation of that source’s name, the news so far holds some stunning implications. Among them is that the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation outright hid critical information from a congressional investigation. In a Thursday press conference, Speaker Paul Ryan bluntly noted that Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes’s request for details on this secret source was “wholly appropriate,” “completely within the scope” of the committee’s long-running FBI investigation, and “something that probably should have been answered a while ago.” Translation: The department knew full well it should have turned this material over to congressional investigators last year, but instead deliberately concealed it. House investigators nonetheless sniffed out a name, and Mr. Nunes in recent weeks issued a letter and a subpoena demanding more details.

      More from Strassel: "The bureau already has some explaining to do. Thanks to the Washington Post’s unnamed law-enforcement leakers, we know Mr. Nunes’s request deals with a “top secret intelligence source” of the FBI and CIA, who is a U.S. citizen and who was involved in the Russia collusion probe. When government agencies refer to sources, they mean people who appear to be average citizens but use their profession or contacts to spy for the agency. Ergo, we might take this to mean that the FBI secretly had a person on the payroll who used his or her non-FBI credentials to interact in some capacity with the Trump campaign. This would amount to spying, and it is hugely disconcerting. It would also be a major escalation from the electronic surveillance we already knew about, which was bad enough...Which would lead to another big question for the FBI: When? ...When precisely was this human source operating? Because if it was prior to that infamous Papadopoulos tip, then the FBI isn’t being straight. It would mean the bureau was spying on the Trump campaign prior to that moment."

      Delete
    2. I've tried to maintain an open mind about the Russia matter, consistently endorsing Robert Mueller's integrity and urging that he be permitted to conclude his investigation without interference. I've pointed out developments that haven't particularly helped Trump's cause, just as I've highlighted information that makes the Justice Department's 2016 actions seem a bit sketchy and suspicious. My sincere hope is that if Mueller unearths any malfeasance within the investigative bureaucracy he once led, he'll expose it. He's demonstrated a willingness to dig into Democrats, and to fire members of his team whose biases colored their judgment. It's essential for the country that his ultimate findings be thorough and unsparing -- and not directed exclusively at one president or political party (this bizarre detail continues to bother me, for example). If the potential Trump interview issue is resolved in relatively short order, it would be useful to hear from Mueller sooner rather than later. This dark cloud has been lingering for long enough. If the special counsel needs significantly more time, so be it, but I hope that after a year on the job, he's close to publishing conclusions (broadsides like this from a federal judge may also spur Mueller to wrap up his business). I'll leave you with this, for what it's worth. If the whispers from these sources are are accurate, we may reach the denouement of this whole drama in the near future:


      Charles Gasparino

      @CGasparino
      #BreakingNews -- Sources with knowledge of the Mueller probe say he’s wrapping up his witness testimony and is likely to conclude w testimoy from former Trump political adviser Roger Stone more at NOON @FoxBusiness @TeamCavuto

      8:41 AM - May 7, 2018
      79
      76 people are talking about this

      https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/05/14/hmm-has-james-comey-been-caught-in-a-lie-n2480363

      Delete
    3. .

      Hmm: Have Republicans Caught James Comey in a Bald-Faced Lie?


      This is all you guys do. You are continuously putting up articles with titles that end in question marks. they speculate, they assume, they 'suppose that'... Get back to me with the articles that answer those question marks and I might be interested.

      .

      Delete
  13. .

    Like these on another topic than the Mueller probe, for instance:

    ERDOGAN: USA has lost 'mediator role'...

    Iran urges global resistance...

    Offers $100,000 to Blow Up New U.S. Embassy...

    Hezbollah: 'New phase' in war...

    Al-Qaeda leader calls for new jihad....DRUDGE


    It's fun to keep up on all the various news topics.


    Sure, keeping up on topics could be fun if you have nothing better to do. I guess. However, if you actually read the stories behind those headlines you might find that's fun too and people wouldn't be laughing at you so often. Well, that is if you don't tell them you found it on Drudge.

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
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    1. If I were to actually post all the articles behind the headlines I put up for your benefit, Deuce would run me out of here for cluttering the place up.

      I post too much stuff as it is, and must rely on you sometimes to do the further searching and reading, ol' timer.

      Delete
    2. My mom would have called you a:

      sleepy head

      Delete
    3. .

      It just seems that way because usually you are the only one here. Most everyone else has left.

      I don't mind debating the politics but the constant nativism and bigotry wears. Now, I just stop in now and then to throw a little shit in the game.

      .

      Delete
    4. I am truly glad you are around.

      I shall strive not to irritate you.

      Delete
    5. I don't consider criticizing Islam, one of my major preoccupations, to be bigotry.

      I consider it to be excellent good sense and valid concern.

      Delete
  14. Mueller's Investigation Crosses the Legal Line
    Steven Calabresi, Wall Street Journal

    FBI Russia Investigation Was a Setup From Start
    Rush Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh Show

    ReplyDelete
  15. Another good Australian ABC 7:30 interview last night. This time with Hillary:

    Hillary Interview

    ReplyDelete
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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Good Lord, Sam, just put me on the rack and twist my bones.

      Watching that was pure torture.

      Excuse #127, 128 and 129 etc - Facebook done me in.....and Roosian rubles.....and Pope Francis....

      ....and Comey, but she's used that one before. Wait, and the Electoral College....

      Delete
    3. We truly with God's help dodged a double barrel shotgun blast there.

      I am sooooo glad she's out of our national life forever.

      Delete
    4. I feel compelled to display more of my own bigotry -


      Report: Mueller’s Indictment Of Russian Company Is Facing Dismissal Over Legal Incompetence

      Posted at 8:15 pm on May 14, 2018 by streiff


      Outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller smiles as he speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, during his farewell ceremony. Mueller is stepping down in September after 12 years heading the agency. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

      I’ve posted a couple of times on the fiasco that is brewing in federal court in Virginia where Robert Mueller’s crack team are getting ready to have to prosecute at least one, and possibly two, cases they never thought would see the light of day. To recap, under pressure to show he was doing something vaguely related to his charter, Robert Mueller engineered the indictments of three Russian companies, one of which was not even in existence during the 2016 election, and thirteen Russian nationals who we are told exist. I say “told exist” because if you can’t get the existence of a whole company right, you lose the ability to convince me you know the names of individual Russian hackers and have me not laugh.

      The first fly in the ointment appeared when one of the defendants, Concord Management and Consulting, retained US counsel. Then the counsel showed up in court and they were not overawed by Mueller. In fact, they had an extensive list of items they were demanding under discovery. This will probably, in the fullness of time, place Mueller in the unenviable position of either producing classified information for the defense or dropping the case.

      But wait, there’s more.

      As I’ve said since the day the indictment was announced, this was a public relations ploy by Mueller. He indicted a handful of Russians that he thought he’d never have to try. The NeverTrump people and progressives were left in a post orgasmic swoon. And Mueller went on with whatever it is that he’s doing. Now it seems like his team may have been so confident of the scam they were running that they didn’t even bother to run it properly. I’m quoting the whole article because there is so much awesome in here I don’t want to leave any out.

      Attorneys for an alleged component of Russian trolling efforts during the 2016 presidential election are demanding that special counsel Robert Mueller be forced to reveal the grand jury instructions.....

      https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2018/05/14/report-muellers-indictment-russian-company-facing-dismissal-legal-incompetence/

      heh

      Delete
  16. On February 16, 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller obtained a federal indictment of 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian companies for conspiring to wage “information warfare” by “impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the United States by dishonest means in order to enable Defendants to interfere with U.S. political processes, including the 2016 presidential election.”

    ...

    “Until the Court has an opportunity to determine if Concord was properly served, it would be inadvisable to conduct an initial appearance and arraignment at which important rights will be communicated and a plea entertained,” wrote the prosecutors. “That is especially true in the context of this case, which involves a foreign corporate defendant, controlled by another, individual foreign defendant, that has already demanded production of sensitive intelligence gathering, national security, and foreign affairs information.”

    ...

    The next morning, Concord’s lawyers replied, “Defendant voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [the federal rules], and further intends to enter a plea of not guilty. Defendant has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons.


    Been Outsmarted

    ReplyDelete
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    1. that attacked Clinton and encouraged support for Sanders, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Trump

      I KNEW Quirk's favorite candidate Jill Stein was a crook, a fraud, a dissembler and a liar, and a political felon....worse than her pal Donald Trump, really.

      Quirk is a bigot !

      He shows this in his favorite candidate's racist, sexist and totalitarian attacks on America's favorite smelly, Hillary Clinton.

      Delete
  17. Other than the president himself, perhaps no public figure is more debated and discussed these days than Special Counsel Robert Mueller. On the Right, former Speaker Newt Gingrich has called him “the tip of the deep state spear aimed at destroying or at a minimum undermining and crippling the Trump presidency.” On the Left, best-selling author J.K. Rowling has tweeted: “If someone, somewhere, isn’t rushing Robert Mueller Christmas angels into production right now, I will be bitterly disappointed.”

    ...

    If anything, the story of Robert Swann Mueller III reads like a parody of that privilege. Born to a wealthy DuPont executive, Mueller was sent off to St. Paul’s, the elite New Hampshire boarding school (where he was John Kerry’s lacrosse captain), before matriculating at Princeton, New York University, and the University of Virginia.

    ...

    The Senate unanimously confirmed Mueller as FBI director on August 2, 2001, but Mueller did not show up for his swearing in for another 33 days. It was an ill-timed sabbatical.

    When the tragedy of 9/11 struck, Mueller surely recognized his absence would be noticed. Mueller tried to preempt those questions.


    Clown Prince

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nunes on Hannity

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlicJO3IKes

    ReplyDelete
  19. IG Has NO POWER TO SUBPOENA Former Obama Employees — That’s Why Rosenstein Asked Him to Investigate Spying on Trump


    od Rosenstein asked Inspector General Horowitz to investigate the spying on the Trump campaign.

    Now we know why Rosenstein gave this investigation to the Inspector General.

    Rosenstein knew the IG investigation could take months to complete.
    And… Rosenstein knew the IG has no power to subpoena former Obama employees involved in the scandal.

    Former US Attorney Joe DiGenova: Here’s the problem with Mr. Horowitz. He cannot interview any of the people who have left the Department of Justice or FBI. He has no subpoena authority. So all of the people who were part of the plot and were in DOJ and FBI are gone. He can’t talk to them.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/huge-ig-has-no-power-to-subpoena-former-obama-employees-thats-why-rosenstein-asked-him-to-investigate-spying-on-trump/

    ReplyDelete
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